Well notify you here with news about

Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest?

Australia deeply troubled by Chinese espionage case

Australias Foreign Minister Penny Wong says her government is deeply troubled by the delays in China resolving espionage allegations against Chinese-Australian writer and blogger Yang Hengjun

CANBERRA, Australia --Australias foreign minister said on Thursday her government was deeply troubled by the delays inChinaresolving espionage allegations against Chinese-Australian Yang Hengjun, while a supporter said the Chinese-born writer and blogger would remain detained until at least April.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong raised the issue on the anniversary of Yangs detention in 2019 when he arrived in southern Chinas Guangzhou from New York with his wife and 14-year-old stepdaughter.

Yang faced a closed trial on an espionage charge in Beijing in May 2021 and is still waiting for a verdict.

TheAustralian government is deeply troubled by the ongoing delays in his case, Wong said in a statement.

Australia would continue to advocate for the 57-year-olds interests and wellbeing at the highest levels, she said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin offered no information about Yangs case when asked about it Thursday, saying only that China had allowed Australian diplomats to meet with him, as is required under international law.

China urges Australia to earnestly respect Chinas judicial sovereignty, refrain from interfering in any form in the handling of cases by Chinese judicial organs in accordance with the law, and take concrete actions to create conditions and an atmosphere for the improvement of bilateral relations, Wang said at a daily briefing.

Yangs Sydney-based supporter, Feng Chongyi, confirmed a report in Australias Fairfax Media Publications newspapers that the case would not be resolved before April.

The court was recently granted a seventh three-month extension to resolve the case, Feng said.

The Australian government, which was elected in May, should insist that Yangs case be resolved before it takes further steps toward mending troubled bilateral relations with China, Feng said.

I hope they will resolve the issue of Yang Hengjun before they normalize trade relations, Feng said.

That is my wish, my hope. But I am not confident that they wont yield to Chinese pressure and commercial interests, he added.

Chinese-born Australian journalist Cheng Lei, who China accuses of sharing state secrets, would also have to wait until April before there could be any progress in her case, Fairfax reported.

The 47-rear-old journalist for CGTN, the English-language channel of China Central Television, has been detained in China since August 2019.

Feng described the extensions of both cases until April as a coincidence. The cases were not linked, he said.

Chengs partner, Nick Coyle, told Fairfax the continual delays are disappointing.

Coyle did not immediately respond to the APs request for comment.

Supporters of both dual citizens hope that they will be deported to Australia once they are convicted and sentenced.

There are signs that bilateral relations have improved since May when the previous Australian government was voted out of office after nine years in power.

Wong raised the cases of Yang and Cheng with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi last month when she became to first Australian foreign minister to visit China in four years.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also raised their cases in November when he took part in the first formal bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping by an Australian government leader since 2016.

Feng said China had detained Yang as revenge against the previous Australian government for passing laws that banned covert foreign interference in domestic politics and for barring Chinese-owned telecommunications giant Huawei from rolling out Australias 5G network due to security concerns.

Gunman killed after open firing inside Walmart in Indiana, police say

Donald Trump withdraws lawsuit against New York attorney general

Santos denies claims he performed as drag queen

Family of 6-year-old who shot teacher speaks out for 1st time

T-Mobile breached by hackers as 37 million customers impacted

24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events

Childrens Online Privacy Policy

Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

上一篇：Chinese researchers are making claims that if truwouldhaten 下一篇：How to